The Golden Divine Halberd

Xiao Chen stared blankly. This stubborn, proud little dragon possessed far more than courage—it was absurdly belligerent. He could guess that this unremarkable little dragon had challenged the Winged Dragon King itself, for it had already challenged two other dragon kings before, and the Winged Dragon King would never have initiated a challenge against such a weakling.

“What a strange little dragon…” Xiao Chen crouched down to study it, then tried to feed it a piece of Snow Lotus Heart. As before, the little dragon stubbornly turned its head away.

Yizhen, Liu Ruyan, and the others gathered around. Seeing the severity of the little dragon’s injuries, everyone shook their heads, convinced it could not survive.

“This island is called Dragon Island, but since we arrived we’ve never tasted dragon meat. Why not roast it? It won’t live anyway,” suggested a nearby practitioner.

The Azure Dragon King and the Green Dragon King roared in fury from a distance. They would fight among their own kind, but would never tolerate another race devouring dragon flesh. The practitioner fell silent, cowed.

The little dragon’s manner was proud and fierce. It looked nothing like a dying loser. Though its eyes were dull, it still regarded the pointing fingers with disdain, even struggling to rise. Only when it looked at Keke and Xiao Chen did a trace of different emotion flicker in its gaze.

The crowd gradually dispersed. Xiao Chen lowered his voice to tell Yizhen and Liu Mu what he had learned from the demon.

“What? Only one dragon king left? We need to contact the older generation immediately!”

At that moment, Xiao Chen sensed the demon’s aura nearby. Liu Mu’s face suddenly changed.

“Don’t worry. He won’t harm anyone for now,” Xiao Chen explained.

“That aura… is the demon?” Liu Mu asked with lingering unease. Liu Ruyan and Yan Qingcheng paled at the words. Being watched by the demon was hardly comforting.

“Yes. What’s wrong?” Xiao Chen asked, puzzled.

“So that’s him—the demon.” Liu Mu’s expression cleared. “Remember what I told you? After entering the depths of Dragon Island, I always felt someone watching us in secret. That was this very aura.”

Xiao Chen recalled Liu Mu’s words—when they had decided to join forces, Liu Mu had mentioned that someone was spying on him, unsettling his soul. That had been one reason for their alliance. He had never imagined the spy was the demon. The mystery was solved, revealing that the demon had already emerged from his snowy mountain蜕变.

Everyone left. Only Xiao Chen, Keke, and the three skeletons remained around the little dragon.

“Why are you so stubborn? I’m trying to help you. Why won’t you accept it? You barely survived last time. Must you be so obstinate again?” The little dragon forcefully turned its head away. Strangely, the blood at its wound had already stopped flowing—no longer gushing as before.

Xiao Chen’s heart was full of doubt. He felt that the little dragon had not survived by sheer luck. Perhaps this little dragon had something extraordinary about it that no one had yet noticed.

Its warlike nature matched that of a dragon king—in constant combat, one could transform and rise. But the little dragon was far too weak, lacking even a single horn, far from the traits of a dragon king, and even more distant from the legendary Ancestral Dragon.

If it were a bit stronger, Xiao Chen might have suspected it was a special dragon king, for it also seemed highly intelligent—it had not been reduced to pure bestiality by the island’s seal.

“Perhaps one day you will become the greatest battle dragon beneath the dragon kings,” Xiao Chen murmured to himself. The little dragon was so fond of fighting; if it survived each battle, it would grow stronger with every conflict. The dragon race was a competitive species—perhaps it could indeed transform from an ordinary dragon into a remarkable one, second only to a king. But evolving into an Ancestral Dragon was almost certainly impossible; natural talent was also crucial, and its innate conditions were poor.

The little dragon gave no response to Xiao Chen’s assessment. It had closed its eyes, ignoring the outside world. Keke circled curiously, seeming to find the little dragon especially interesting. It patted the dragon’s head, then examined its claws, letting out a few unknowable sounds.

Finally, Xiao Chen left. But after walking a few li, he turned back. A wounded little dragon lying alone in the grass might be devoured by other beasts. After all, this was not the dragons’ sacred mountain—without the protection of a ferocious dragon’s territory, other beasts would likely rush in for an easy meal.

Yet when he returned, he found that although a few beasts were prowling nearby, they fled in panic as soon as they approached the dark-brown little dragon. It was a strange and abnormal phenomenon.

Xiao Chen could not understand the reason, but knowing that the peculiar little dragon was safe, he withdrew with relief.

Only two days remained before the seven-day deadline. Xiao Chen wandered aimlessly through the depths of Dragon Island. He no longer hoped to find a way to suppress the demon—it seemed nothing on the island could counter that evil being.

But just as he had given up hope, he encountered something unusual.

Deep within Dragon Island lay a shattered mountain range, barren of all plant life—nothing but endless rubble. It was as if a heavenly tribulation had struck, the entire stone mountain seemingly shattered by an immense force.

Though the mountain had collapsed, one could still sense its former majesty and grandeur. Even these remnants exuded an imposing aura.

Much of the stone mountain had been utterly crushed, leveled to the ground. But here and there, stone peaks still stood, riddled with enormous cracks, as if they might collapse at any moment—a sight of extreme peril and stark beauty.

In this peculiar region, Xiao Chen discovered many decayed corpses, clearly left from endless ages ago. Their white bones had nearly rotted, crumbling at the lightest touch.

Such remains were scattered among the broken stone peaks, making it impossible to understand what had happened here long ago.

Xiao Chen had not ventured far into this area when he saw several more decaying bodies among the rocks, obviously not long dead. From their graying hair, they appeared to be men in their fifties or sixties—undoubtedly the batch of old experts who had secretly slipped onto Dragon Island.

Why had they died here? Xiao Chen grew alert. Careful observation revealed that these men seemed to have fled from ahead, eventually collapsing and never rising again.

From his inspection and reasoning, there seemed to be an unknown danger ahead, though not very close. Xiao Chen walked forward. Keke awakened, curiously examining the stone peaks. The three skeletons followed closely behind.

After advancing two li, they found several more decaying corpses. Apparently, they had been a group, but these had died earlier and not fled as far.

“Ya-ya-ya…” Keke seemed utterly unaware of any danger ahead, cheerfully hopping and running among the rubble, as if something ahead was drawing it.

How could this be? Danger seemed to lie ahead—otherwise these old experts would not have died—but why did Keke, a creature of keen spiritual instinct, react this way? Xiao Chen was perplexed.

“Are you seeking death?” The demon appeared behind them.

“What place is this?” Xiao Chen turned to ask.

“A place you cannot set foot in.” The demon’s eyes were hollow. “Dragon Island is a primordial divine island. Even I dare not approach many places. I advise you to leave here as soon as possible. But if you insist on pressing forward, I won’t stop you. If you meet with an accident, I can obtain what I need without obstruction.”

Keke ignored the demon completely and dashed ahead. Xiao Chen stopped paying him any heed and followed Keke. After advancing four or five li through the broken stone veins, they finally sensed something abnormal. A sacred aura rippled through the area like water—a power that made one tremble.

Divine power!

The thought flashed through Xiao Chen’s mind. This was absolutely not ordinary power. But how could divine power exist on Dragon Island? It should have been sealed.

Faint golden light leaked from among the rubble ahead. The divine power fluctuation originated there. Clearly, they were nearing their goal. Keke gave a joyful cry and charged forward like an unleashed pet. Worried, Xiao Chen followed closely, with the three skeletons turning into three white streaks behind him.

They burst into the ruined mountain. Blinding golden light flooded Xiao Chen’s vision, and the divine power felt even more immense—as if a brilliant sun shone ahead.

“Ya-ya-ya…” The snowy-white little beast finally stopped, leaping onto a huge boulder to look ahead.

And Xiao Chen finally saw what it was.

A golden divine halberd stood there, seeming to be condensed entirely from dazzling golden light. It was so sacred and extraordinary, thrust silently into the rubble, with golden divine power surging like ocean waves.